This Needle and Haystack Life
by Honor Reid
Summary: The Doctor shows up out of the blue. Twice. 12/Martha


A/N: Thanks so much to **persiflage_1** for their awesome beta skills! Written for the LJ comm **older_not_dead** prompt: surprise from the past. Also for the LJ comm **stories_a_z** letter T. Title from a Switchfoot song, which I love and worked very well with this story!

For the purposes of this story Martha never left UNIT and was never involved with Mickey. Future Fic. It is a Doctor/Martha story if that is not your cup of tea please do not read. Enjoy!

* * *

 **In this needle and haystack life  
I've found miracles there in your eyes  
It's no accident we're here tonight  
We are once in a lifetime  
-** **Switchfoot**

 **-DW-**

Martha leaned tiredly against the brick wall and glanced once again at the clock shop that was across the street. Seeing the hands of the various clocks at 12 and 5, Martha sighed resignedly, her husband was officially late. It was a rare occurrence now, but when they first had started going from friends to more, it happened more often. It made her wonder if maybe she was once again more invested in their relationship then the Doctor was, but as she got to know this incarnation better she realized he wasn't being purposefully inconsiderate. His mind tended to go in a million directions at once and that tended to make him late to just about everything. Not that she completely let him off the hook for it, but she understood that he was a Time Lord who saved whole planets, and universes, in a single day.

Nowadays he was better at showing up on time. "But apparently today is not one of those days." Martha thought with a smile. The Doctor had received a distress signal earlier this morning on a hostile planet and they had both agreed it was a bit to dangerous for Martha this late in her pregnancy. In the distance she could hear the boats on the Thames, following the sound Martha soon saw a walkway next to the river. Shoving her hands into her pockets to keep them warm, against the November chill, Martha carefully walked down the stairs. Wandering a short distance till she found a bench, Martha sat down with a grateful sigh and people watched as she thought back to that fateful night when her life took an unexpected turn.

 **-DW-**

She had been surprised when the Doctor had shown up one day out of the blue five years ago with a new face and new personality. It had been 11 o'clock at night and she had been about to retire for the night, when she heard the knock at the door. Looking through the peephole, Martha only saw a white haired older gentleman, walking back and forth in an agitated manner on her front stoop. She had kept the latch on but had cracked the door open and had asked, "Can I help you?"

"I knew I could find you," the man said with a shout and a clap of his hands as a self-satisfied smugness crossed his face. Seeing her blank look, a look of impatience crossed his countenance before he leaned in and gazed directly into her eyes. "Dr. Jones don't you know who I am?"

Martha gasped in recognition. It was the eyes; there was an intensity, a depth that most humans and aliens did not have. You could get lost in the cosmos that were in the Doctor's eyes.

In shock she slowly undid the lock and invited him in. As she made tea Martha watched the Doctor wander around her flat; never still, always moving. Although the face was new, the manic level of energy was about the same. She brought the tray in and they sat down. As she poured the tea Martha took in the Doctor's new features. He had grayish hair with blue eyes instead of brown and his mannerisms were different as well, but as he spoke of his travels she soon stopped thinking of the men as two different people and just saw the Doctor. They talked late into the night as they caught up with each other's lives since they had last seen each other. Apparently the Doctor had recently parted ways with a companion by the name of Clara. Seeing the Doctor's down turned expression Martha could tell the separation was taking its toll on him. When Martha expressed her concern at the Doctor traveling alone the Time Lord brushed it off with his usual arrogance. By time the sun rose over the horizon their conversation had wound down awhile ago and now they were sitting in surprisingly companionable silence, sipping their now cold tea, when a shrill buzzing sound came from her bedroom.

Martha looked at the wall clock in surprise and stood up quickly and stated, "That's my alarm. I am supposed to be getting ready for work."

The Doctor stood up as well and opened his mouth as though he wanted to speak but then he shut it and turned towards the entryway. Martha opened the front door for him and struggled to figure out how to say goodbye again. As they stood there awkwardly the Doctor on the doorstep and Martha holding onto the door for dear life he finally spoke, "You could go with me?"

"No," Martha blurted out maybe a bit harshly, before softening her tone and saying, "I have a life here now, a job that is important to me, and…I just can't."

The Doctor nodded his head as though he understood, and added, "Well then, I will take my leave Dr. Jones. Thank you for your hospitality."

"Goodbye Doctor," Martha returned somberly. As she closed the door Martha knew she was making the correct decision, but she was a bit disheartened about saying no.

She had figured that it was just a one time thing but he continued to show up. There would be the ring of the doorbell and he would be standing there talking a mile a minute, as soon as she opened the door, about his latest adventure or something that had happened or would happen. He showed up at all hours of the day or night; sometimes she would turn him away and sometimes she would let him in. If it was Martha's day off from UNIT she would continue about her day, doing chores and the like, with the Doctor following along actually helping. He even helped with dishes once, she washed and he dried them.

It was all very domestic and worrisome.

She kept telling herself that they were just friends and to not get used to knocks at the door that came at 3 in the morning the Doctor ranting about a crooked politician on Gylort 7 as he drank hot tea, the scolding liquid sloshing over the side as he waved his arms about. Or the Doctor popping in on a Sunday, offering to take her to an interesting point in history or to a planet that he had to show her, Martha always refused (she wasn't going down that road again.) She kept expecting it to all just stop, for him to go away and for her not to see him again for years, if at all, but he continued to show up for over a year. Eventually she stopped turning him away, even if it was an obscene time in the middle of the night and she had to work in the morning. She started to rely on the fact that he would be there and that they could spend time together.

Then came the Cyberman invasion.

UNIT headquarters came under siege first; the building was reduced to rubble within minutes. Martha was saved by the mere fact that she had left work a bit early to have dinner with her mother. After that the day became a blur. She remembered reporting to UNIT's temporary offices, although shortly thereafter she ended up in a warehouse just outside of London organizing a temporary hospital to help with the wounded and the displaced. There were TV's set up in the shelter's main room which kept them abreast of the latest news from London. Although Martha didn't have much time to watch as she made sure the meager supplies they'd managed to scavenge together got where they needed to be. Made sure that the wounded were triaged properly, and the uninjured civilians were taken care of or put to work if they were able to help medically, or even help with feeding the influx of people. She did stop once when one report on the attack of Parliament showed a reporter taking cover in an alley down the road from the main building, but it wasn't the beleaguered journalist that caught her eye, it was what was parked in the back of the alley. It was a blue police box. For the first time that day Martha felt that maybe it would be okay, then she quickly walked out of the room and got back to work.

It wasn't until 36 hours later, that she was able to take her first breather. They had received word an hour ago that the Cybermen had been defeated, but unfortunately not before they had destroyed great swaths of London. So the government was already setting up refugee camps around the city that relieved some of the pressure of her encampment. She had also been able to call in some of her old friends from Torchwood and they had been able to help with supplies and food stuffs.

Not being able to remember the last time she had sat down Martha found an empty cot in an office off the main room and told her assistants she was going to rest for a half in hour. She had just sat down when a familiar noise filled the room. Smiling tiredly Martha wearily stood up and as the doors open up Martha opened her mouth to say hi when the Doctor launched himself out and barreled into her, wrapping her in a bone crushing hug. Martha was in shock at first and just stood there, but then she realized how much she needed this and wrapped her arms just as tightly around the time lord. She wasn't sure if she was the one shaking or if it was the Doctor, but she tightened her grip on the man anyway and just tried to ground herself in this moment. Trying to make herself believe that they were both alive and would be okay.

At first no words were spoken and eventually they ended up on the tiny cot with barely enough room for them both. The Doctor lay on his back one of his arms wrapped tightly around her and Martha on her side, leaning against him with one arm draped across his chest; her hand flat against his chest feeling his hearts beating against her hand and finding comfort in it.

She felt a kiss placed on her hair.

"I was so scared when I saw what was left of UNIT," the Doctor whispered.

"It's alright. I got out before the worst hit the city." Martha responded. Lying against Doctor she breathed in the smell of ozone that was always apart of the man but she also smelled dust and gunpowder which reminded her of where he had just come from. Sitting up slightly Martha looked down at the Doctor and asked "Are you alright?"

"Of course. All a day in the life," Doctor answered with a tired bravado coloring his voice.

"Doctor…" Martha reprimanded in a soft pleading tone of voice.

She watched as his face crumpled for a moment before the Doctor's hand came up and covered his face. He took in a few stuttering breaths before he brought his hand down; he seemed a bit calmer, but his eyes were glassy as though he was barely holding back tears.

"How many times must I fight them? How many people have to die?" He asked his voice racked with pain and grief.

Martha just shook her head sadly, she had no words of comfort for him, and she wasn't sure how to help. She couldn't imagine how many times he had fought the Cybermen, had fought against tyranny in all forms, since he ran away from Gallifrey.

He turned his head to the side away from her to stare at the opposite wall, "I am just so weary of all of the death and destruction," the words whispered almost like he was talking to himself.

Martha cupped the Doctor's face and when he once again faced her she murmured, "I'm sorry." She watched his face soften, and then he reached up and cupped the back of her head, but he didn't draw her towards him. She knew he was leaving the next step in her hands. Martha wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not, but as soon as their lips brushed against each other she felt the rightness of it…of them.

She drew back wanting to see his reaction. He stroked her face tenderly and the way he looked at her like she was something so precious, so loved. It was then she truly believed that maybe this time it could be different between them. The Doctor gently pulled her against him and she went willingly, pressing her lips against his and gasping just a bit when he deepened the kiss.

 **-DW-**

Of course snogging on a cot in a back office after the world almost ended did not solve all the problems between them, but it was a start. There were still arguments and the push-and-pull of her life on Earth, and the Doctor's life roaming the universe. It took compromise on both their parts. But the really important part was the fact that this time they were on the same page, this time they were both besotted and falling in love. They started slowly a few dates some on earth and some on distant planets. Ultimately the TARDIS was a permanent fixture in her flat and she spent more time within its ever changing corridors with the Doctor, then she did in her own home. They were eventually married, she let go of her flat and the TARDIS became her home. They ended up dividing their time between her work at UNIT and his work through all of time and space. Although soon Martha knew she would have to take leave from her work.

Martha was brought back to the here and now by a growing ache in her lower back. Shifting uncomfortably on the stone bench, she tried to massage the knots that had taken up residence in her back. After a few minutes she gave it up as a lost cause, clasping her hands together, Martha rested them on her rounded belly and sighed deeply. Feeling a kick against her hand she smiled, "Just a few more days, love, and then you can come on out and meet your Mum and Dad. "

She was 36wks along and although more then likely all would be fine if her son decided to come early, she would prefer it if he went full term. They had been overjoyed by the unexpected pregnancy and now were eagerly waiting when they could hold their child.

Checking the time once again Martha saw the Doctor was now a half a hour late, pulling out her cell phone she was just about to call her errant husband when she saw three people run around the corner and approach the bench were she sat. They kept looking over the railing at the river. One of the women who was in a lavender uniform and was talking in strident, worried tones, Martha heard what sounded like a plea for her friends to stay calm. The other woman, who was a bit calmer (she was also in purple but her outfit was more fairy-like) still showed signs of worry as she kept glancing anxiously at the river. The third member of their party was a young man with brown hair and he was wringing his hands as he followed the other two and exclaiming rather loudly, "It's not my fault Tegan. You know how he can be!"

They quickly made their way down the walkway. Martha unlocked her mobile and was about to call the Doctor when she heard a shout of, "There he is!"

Martha grew concerned when she saw the young man lie flat on the pavement, scooting forward until half of him was over the edge of the walkway reaching down towards the water. The two women grabbed his feet to keep him from falling in. She heard a shout of "I've got him! Pull me up!"

Slowing rising to her feet, Martha watched as the two women pulled the boy from the edge, when he neared the top they switched from pulling his feet to helping him pull a unconscious man in a beige suit over the edge. Seeing the man fall limply to the ground, spurred Martha forward, the doctor in her already cataloging what she was seeing and what her response should be. Male, who looked to be in his twenties, unconscious after being in the water.

Moving as quickly as she as could, given her condition, Martha reached the man and awkwardly knelt down next to him, just as the woman in purple pressed her fingers against the man's carotid artery.

She looked up at Martha, and with panic in her voice exclaimed, "There's no pulse."

"It's okay I can help. I'm a doctor." Martha spoke quickly yet calmly, wrapping herself in her profession and becoming Dr. Jones.

Checking for herself she confirmed the man did not have a pulse and also wasn't breathing. Tilting his head back Martha glanced up at the woman in lavender asking, "Tegan is it?" Seeing her nod Martha continued in a forceful yet calm tone, "Please call 999 and tell them what happened." Thrusting it into the startled woman's hands Martha returned to her patient.

Attempting to bend over she realized her abdomen was going to make this difficult but doable as she adjusted her stance and started rescue breathing. Giving two breaths Martha moved down to the blonde man's chest and placing her hands in the center, she laced her fingers together and began compressions. Realizing the woman was still holding her mobile and staring at it blankly she once again implored, "Tegan you have to call now!"

She saw the woman look helplessly at her companions before she warbled out a, "I can't."

"Why not?!" Martha ground out; growing frustrated, as she painfully bent over and provided the man with two more breaths. "If you don't call this man could die!"

The other woman who was close to tears practically shouted out, "We can't because he isn't human."

Martha paused in shock for just a moment before returning to counting out the compressions.

"He's a Time Lord…" Tegan continued before abruptly trailing off as Martha grabbed her hand.

"A Time Lord?" Martha breathed out in shock before continuing in a worried rush, "Is his name the Doctor?"

"You know the Doctor?!" the young man squeaked out incredulously.

Alarm and dread coursed through her body as she stared down at the drowned man in front of her. He looked so different. This was the love of her life, this was her husband, but whether it was a past version or a future one she wasn't sure, but what she did know was that she was doing the CPR wrong. Giving two more breaths, memories flashed through her brain of the day on the moon and her first meeting with the Doctor where she had learned Time Lords have two hearts.

Martha moved back to his chest this time making sure to give compressions on both sides of his chest, where his hearts were located. "How long was the Doctor in the water?" Martha asked a bit breathlessly, she was starting to get winded.

"I don't know, we all got separated about an hour ago." It was the curly haired woman who answered.

That wasn't good, without knowing how long the Doctor had gone without breathing and his hearts beating she couldn't tell how truly dire the situation was.

After a few more rounds Martha started to despair. "Please Doctor," she whispered.

As she placed her hands once again on the Doctor's chest, she was startled when he gasped suddenly and started choking. She quickly rolled him onto his side as the Doctor threw up a decent amount of water. Once he had stopped, Martha rolled him back over and it was then she noticed his eyes were blue and the look in them wholly familiar.

It _was_ her Doctor, the outside was completely changed but who he was underneath was the same. And for a moment it was just the two of them and she couldn't help placing her hand against the side of his face as a joyful smile spread across her face at the wonder that he was alive and safe. She felt him lean into her hand just a bit as a small smile answered her back. The moment was broken when his companions shrieked with joy and fell upon him in relief as they started babbling their happiness.

"Doctor, we were so worried!"

"Please don't ever do that again."

"Doctor, you had Tegan and Nyssa so frantic."

At that last statement the two women looked at the boy incredulously. Martha saw him just shrug his shoulders a bit sheepishly.

"I am sorry to worry you but it was the only way to eliminate the threat to the Earth. I am quite alright," the Doctor wheezed out.

Martha spoke up without thinking, "Oh no you're not. You need to get back to the TARDIS and rest up for at least four or five days."

When all four turned their gaze her way Martha felt her face heat up but repeated the instructions with a worried tone of voice, "I'm a doctor and it is my advice that you take it easy for a couple of days at the very least."

The Doctor's blues eyes seemed to bore into hers, "Who are you and how do you know about the TARDIS?"

Martha started to say her name but then closed her mouth with a snap when a thought struck her. _She could be in the Doctor's past, and if she was anything she said could affect the timeline._ So instead of explaining Martha just sadly shook her head and replied, "I'm sorry I can't."

She realized she really was sorry because she suddenly had an intense longing to know more about this version of the Doctor. She had met two incarnations of the Doctor and at times she felt she had barely scratched the surface, to know more was so tempting. But she wouldn't endanger this timeline and her life with the Doctor, or that of her child in order to satisfy her curiosity. With one last squeeze of the Doctor's hand, Martha let go and then attempted to stand but due to advanced pregnancy was having great difficulty. The brown-haired boy offered her a hand; Martha took it gratefully and was soon upright.

"Thank you…" Martha trailed off realizing she had never caught his name.

He smiled brightly and said, "Adric. And thank you for saving the Doctor."

"Adric, nice to meet you. It was my pleasure," Martha smiled. He moved away and went to help Nyssa and Tegan with the Doctor.

As the three companions helped the Doctor get to his feet Martha slipped away while they were distracted.

Practically running back to where she was to met her Doctor, Martha was almost at the bus stop when she heard a familiar whirling noise that had come to mean home to her. Seeing the TARDIS materialize in an alleyway next to the clock shop Martha swiftly crossed the street. As she reached for the door, it whipped open with a frantic white haired Doctor about to run out. Seeing her, he grasped her hand and pulled her inside. Martha went more then willingly, this was the Doctor she knew and loved. She heard him shut and lock the door, then still holding her hand tightly, he led her to the console and she watched as he put the TADIS into motion.

"I've put us out into open space so we should be undisturbed for awhile," the Doctor explained as he turned to face her.

Martha stared at him for a moment taking in his familiar features, before her face crumpled and lunged at him, grasping his shirt and burying her face into his shoulder. Taking in a shuddering breath she felt his arms curve around her holding her tightly, for a moment she just reveled in the feeling of him. She felt him cup the back of her head and he whispered his love into her hair.

Moments passed, and then she found her voice and had to ask, "Why didn't you tell me?" It came out more hostile than she intended, but the terror she had felt as she did round after round of CPR to no avail, as the Doctor showed no signs of life, was quickly turning to anger. If the Doctor had warned her of what was going to happen then she could have prepared better and maybe even had a portable AED with her, instead of going into the situation blind.

Pulling away till she was an arm's length away so she could look him in the eye, she crossed her arms around herself and waited for his answer. He started to reach for her before he dropped his hands and said, "Because it was too dangerous."

The Doctor started to pace making eye contact with her at each turn, "The first time you meet me was not the first time I met you. From the moment I saw you in that hospital I remembered a chilly November day where you saved my life. From what I remembered about that day was that you would save me, that you knew about Time Lords and the TARDIS. I remembered that you were heavily pregnant at the time, but not whose child it was. When I met you at the hospital, I knew I couldn't say anything because it could change the future, change what happened that day."

His hands went up to his hair and he gripped it in frantic hands, "Then once we became involved and got married, and when you became pregnant and I knew that it was our child you carried that day, I became so scared that to breathe a word of what was to come in case I inadvertently changed our timeline."

"One slip and everything could've been different. I could lose everything I loved again. I couldn't…I couldn't…" The Doctor trailed off his face twisted with grief.

Seeing her husband's anguish Martha felt her heart break just a bit and she couldn't keep her distance any longer. Taking a deep breath and letting it out again, she released the anger caused by her fear of losing him, then moved to his side. Placing her hands on ether side of his face and running her thumbs over his cheekbones, Martha spoke with a voice that was gruff and tear filled, "You made the right decision. I would not risk what we built together for anything."

As she felt his arms come around her, Martha pulled the Doctor forward and kissed him deeply. She felt one of his hands cup her face and the other rest on her stomach. When Martha felt a strong kick she pulled back and shared a smile with the Doctor, who tenderly caressed her abdomen. Martha placed her hand over his and said, "It looks like our son agrees."

Staring into blue eyes that gazed down lovingly into hers, Martha smiled and stated with tenderness, "I love you."

"And I you, my dearest Martha," the Doctor solemnly, yet lovingly, returned before he placed an arm around her and bending forward, kissed her. Martha poured all the passion and love she had for this man into the kiss.

Later, as they lay in bed together lying on their sides facing each other with their fingers intertwined, she asked, "Doctor? Can you tell me about them? Tegan, Nyssa, and Adric?"

The Doctor looked a bit taken aback, but then smiled warmly at her and replied, "Where should I begin? How about with Adric? He was an Alzarian from E-space and he was so young and so very bright. The first time I met him he had hurt his leg…"

 **THE END**


End file.
